Introduction/ Historical Overview

The idea of Local Government is as old as humanity and any known human civilization. In fact,
Local Government is considered to be one of man’s oldest political institutions all over the world.

In Nigeria, before the advent of colonization there existed a form of local administration. During
this period, traditional rulers plsayed a very significant role by ensuring that policies formulated by
traditional rulers were left in the hands of the community chiefs who were then very loyal to the
traditional ruler. It is pertinent to state that some parts of Nigeria experienced an advanced stage of
human civilization and a highly centralized government. Therefore, the history of Local Government
System in Nigeria could be traced back to the pre-colonial era when powerful kingdoms and empires
existed (Majekodunmi 2012). Such empires and kingdoms include Borno empire, Sokoto caliphate, oyo
empire; old oyo kingdom, Benin kingdom, among several others. These empires had other smaller
districts, wards, towns and villages controlled by ward leaders appointed by the Emir or king whpo were
directly under the authorities of theses kingdoms; operating in a way suitable to their cultural and
religious aspirations. This is to say that these areas had a form of government at the local level through
which local administration of their subjects are carried out.

However, modern day Local Government system in Nigeria was developed during colonial era.
This is to say the advent of colonialism and specifically, the arrival of the British imperial powers on the
sail of Nigeria witnessed a highly organised and effective system of administration at the local level. No
doubt the British Government based their own system of administration n the existing structure which
they met in Nigeria. This system under consideration is known as the indirect rule (Aransi 1995) this
system of administration, Lord Lugard, made use of the traditional rulers to administer the country. The
influence of local administration ___________ cannot be under estimated. But where there were no
traditional institutions, new ones were created. This was peculiar to the Eastern part of the country
where the wee no traditional rulers, hence, the establishment of Native Authority. The Native ordinance
of 1910 according to Asaju (2010) recognized the traditional rulers whose main function was to maintain
law and order as sole Authority. Diejomah and Eboh(2012) went further that the Native Administration
was charged with the responsibility of collecting taxes, maintenance of order, construction and
maintenance of local roads and sanitary inspection. Till date, these functions are still being performed by
Local Government, hence, its significant position as a prominent feature of Nigeria political system.

It must be emphasized that during the colonial period, Local Government employed some sort
of autonomy because each region made provision for the legal frame work that allowed it to oversee
the Local Government under its jurisdiction. These are the Eastern region Local Government odinanceof
1950, he Western Region Local Government law of 1952 and the Native Authority Law of 1952 in
Northern Nigeria (Akpan and___,2013). Relatively there was little or no interference in their activities by
the Federal Government, thus given room for healthy and competitive developmental programmes.

Local Government in Nigeria has experienced several changes in name, structure and
composition based on the rising tide of sociopolitical and economic development in the country.
Observably, Local Governments have been severally restructured and reorganized in Nigeria depending
on the regime in power, the nature and level of interest of such government in Local administration.

The 1976 Local Government Reform marked a turning point in the historical development of
local government administration in Nigeria. As asserted by (Ugwu, 2001), the reform "form a watershed
in the evolution of local government development and Administration in Nigeria". The 1976 Reform
marked the end of sound experiment or model and gave way to a common national local government
system in Nigeria. The major thrust of the reform in the word of Orewa and Adewumi (1983) "is to
entrust political responsibility to where it is most crucial and beneficial, that is to the people". It also
aimed at social and development of and the effective delivery of the respective local population
scattered all over the country". Unlike previous reforms which were highly restricted in scope and range,
the 1976 reform followed extensive consultations at all the levels of the federating units and among
other stakeholders and experts. The reform also conceptualized local government as the third tier of
government operating with a common institutional framework with defined functions and
responsibilities. As a third tier of government, local government gets its statutory share of allocation
direct from the Federation account and it is empowered to exercise control over its spending. In
addition, the reform provided for a democratically elected local government councils. All the provisions
of the 1976 Reform were entrenched in the 1979 Constitution which anchored in the Second Republic.
However, the1976 Reform invariably gave the Federal Government more domineering role. As Gboyega
(2001) rightly observes; "the consequences of Federal intervention and imposition of a common system
of local government have been mixed ---- from a benign role that clearly retained State dominance of
Local government policy-making, the federal role has gradually widened to the point where the Federal
Government can initiate local government Policy reform".
Essentially, Local Government is created as a _____political tool for the development of local
areas. With the support of federal/state governments Local Government is established to mobilize and
harness local resources and ensure their effective utilization for productive development.

Also, with a view to enhancing Local Government capacity for good governance, successive
governments in Nigeria have executed several other reforms; this includes a uniform structure of an
elected council with constitutional functions. Owing to the native and purpose for which Local
Government was located and for the fact that government at the grassroots was still very ___ people
the Babaginda-led administration ____ released the number of Local Governments from 301 in 1976 to
453 in 1989 and to 589 in 1991. The Abacha administration in 1996 increased the number to 774 local
councils following the creation of additional six states (Ajayi 2000).

Definition of Local Government

Local Government is literarily seen as the government at the local level. Some scholars (Olowu
1988, Adeyeye, 2005) have distinguished local government depending on the political arrangement of
the nation, i.e. unitary or federal system. Adeyeye (2005) defines local government in the unitary state
as "non-sovereign community possessing the legal right but which are essentially administrative agents
of the central government". On the other hand, the United Nations Office for Public Administration sees
Local Government as:
A political subdivision of a nation (in a federal system) state, which is constituted by law and has
substantial control of local affairs including the powers to impose taxes or to exact labour for prescribed
purposes. The governing body of such an entity is elected.
 All over the world, the local government system is the tier of government that is closest to the
people. It is designed to bring governance and service delivery to rural and underserved communities. It
is also an avenue for deepening democracy and decentralizing power through greater citizen
participation in electoral processes and decision making.
It also serves as an arena for political development at the grass-roots level. Thus, Section 14(4)
of the constitution states that:
The composition of Government of a State, a Local Government Council, or any of the Agencies
of such Government or Council, and the conduct of the affairs of the Government or Council or such
Agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognize the diversity of the people within its area of
authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the peoples of the
Federation. This Section of the Constitution has been termed by many authors as the “Local
Government Character”. It thus means that like what it is applicable to other jurisdictions, where the
local government system is a tier of government so also in Nigeria, the system of local government is
meant to be a tier of government at the grassroots, burdened with the sole responsibility of bringing the
government closer to the people; as envisaged by Section 14(4) of the Constitution Adeyemo (2005).
Similarly, the Guideline for Local Government Reform (FGN, 1976) defines local government as:
Government at local level exercised through representative councils established by law to exercise
specific powers defined areas. These powers should give the council substantial control over local affairs
as well as the staff and institutional and financial power to initiate and direct the provision of services
and to determine and implement projects so as to complement the activities of the state and federal
government in their areas, and to ensure, through devolution of functions to these councils and through
the active participation of the people and their traditional institutes, that local initiative and responses
to local head and conditions are maximized.
The implications of the above definitions are in four dimensions, these include:
1. Local government must be a legal entity distinct from the state and federal government.
2. Local government must be administered by democratically elected officials.
3. Local government must have specific powers to perform a range of functions assigned it by law.
4. Local government must enjoy substantial autonomy to perform array of functions, plan, formulate
and execute its own policies, programmes and projects, and its own rules and regulations as deemed for
its local needs. This autonomy includes power to control its finance, recruit and discipline its staff.
The concept of Local Government Autonomy
Despite the initial differing conceptions ascribed to the local government autonomy (see
Adeyemo, 2005). The full meaning of the term ‘autonomy’ has not been fully explained (Odunfa, 1991).
Local Government autonomy is the freedom to the Local Governments to exercise authority within the
confines of the law or constitution. This is to enable them to discharge legally or constitutionally
assigned responsibilities satisfactorily, but without undue interference or restraint from within or higher
authority. This definition argues for adequate autonomy for Local Governments within the law for the
purpose of performance, which actually guarantees it. Without performance, the law or constitution
may not be able to guarantee even adequate autonomy for LGs as the people yearn for development.
Autonomy operated within a democracy must be limited as indeed democracy limits the use of power
Imhanlahimi and Ikeanyibe (2008).
In view of these copious conceptual interpretations, the term “Local Government autonomy is
perceived as local self-government or grassroots democracy”. This grassroots democracy is primarily
aimed at giving the vast majority of the people the fullest opportunity to participate in determining their
own destiny. But it is obvious that we cannot have complete autonomy or complete local self-
government within sovereign states. If local governments were completely autonomous they would be
sovereign states Adeyemo (2005). Nwabueze (1983 as cited in Adeyemo, 2005) defines the autonomy
under a federal system to mean that “each government enjoys a separate existence and independence
from the control of the other governments” It is an autonomy which requires not just the legal and
physical existence of an apparatus of government like a legislative assembly, Governor, Court etc. but
that each government must exist not as an appendage of another government but as autonomous entity
in the sense of being able to exercise its own will in the conduct of its affairs free from direction of
another government.
According to Nwabueze, autonomy would only be meaningful in a situation whereby each level
of government is not constitutionally bound to accept dictation or directive from another. In the view of
the defunct Centre for Democratic Studies (cited in Adeyemo, 2005) local government autonomy refers
to “The relative discretion which Local Governments enjoy in regulating their own affairs”. The extent to
which Local Government are free from the control of the State and Federal Governments encroachment
in the management of local affairs. In the same vein, Davey (1991) contends that:
Local autonomy is primary concerned with the question of responsibilities, resources and
discretion conferred on the local authorities. As such discretion and responsibility are at the core of local
government”. It presumes that local government must possess the power to take decisions independent
of external control within the limits laid down by the law. It must garner efficient resources particularly
of finance to meet their responsibilities, put differently; local autonomy is the freedom of independence
in clearly defined issue, areas, as well as separate legal identity from other levels of government.
It is important to note that considering the country’s federalism and constitution there can
never be an absolute autonomy because of the interdependence of the three levels of government and
this bring into focus the intergovernmental relations of local government autonomy. The federal, state
and local governments rule over the same population. If they are to achieve the purpose of their
creation and not to waste the meager resources at their disposal, there must be a definition of the
boundaries or arena of operation of each of them. In essence, when one talks of local government
autonomy in Nigerian’s polity, it refers to the relative independence of local government control by both
the state and federal governments. Therefore, it is the nature and structure of transactions or
interactions between the three levels of government that reveals the degree of local government
autonomy Adeyemo (2005).
The country’s constitution clearly spelt out its position on Local Government autonomy, for
instance the exit of the military and the enthronement of the democratic government in 1999 brought
to the fore, again, some contradictions of local government autonomy. The provisions regarding local
government administration in the 1999 Constitution created a lot of confusion. The 1999 constitution by
its provisions in section 7 and 8 recognize the local government as a third tier of government and also
guarantee it, but gives the state the autonomy to lord over the local government. Section 7 reads jointly
with Section 8 provides that there shall be:
The system of local government by democratically elected councils (which) is by this
Constitution guaranteed and accordingly, the government of every State shall, subject to section 8 of
this Constitution…. ensure their existence under a law which provides for the establishment; structure,
composition, finance and functions of such councils.
The implication of these provisions according to Asaju (2010) is that local government cannot
exercise the functions assigned to it in section 1 schedule 4 of the Constitution until the State House of
Assembly had passed a law. The same Fourth Schedule of the Constitution also provides for "the
functions of the Local government Council to also include participation of such Council in government of
a state as in respect of the following matters, education, agricultural materials resources, healthcare and
any other function assigned to it by the State House of Assembly Asaju (2010).
 The Concept of Local Government Development- Rural
and Grassroots
Development – The most fundamental rationale for creating LG anywhere in the world is to employ it to
take responsibility for the development of the area directly and also contribute indirectly to the
development of the nation. This development has been conceptualized from two broad perspectives:
economic and holistic. The economic perspective was the traditional or earlier conception which
expressed concerns for issues of poverty, unemployment, and inequality that must be reduced to usher
in development to any area or country. If these decline in a society, the earlier version insisted, then
there is development (Seers, 1969). The other, newer perspective in the conceptualization of
development was blazed by writers like Todaro and Smith (2003:17) who have presented a holistic
definition: Development must, therefore, be conceived of as a multidimensional process involving major
changes in social structures, popular attitudes, and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of
economic growth, the reduction of inequality and the eradication of absolute poverty. Development, in
its essence, must represent the whole gamut of change by which an entire social system, tuned to the
diverse basic needs and desires of individuals and social groups within that system, moves away from
condition of life widely perceived as unsatisfactory toward a situation or condition of life regarded as
materially and spiritually better.
The modern or newer definition of development is therefore holistic, encompassing all aspects
of life, including political, economic, social, cultural, religious, physical, etc. These can be further
amplified to include all the good aspects of life that people cherish, make them feel relevant and enjoy
their lives to the full. For example, the political aspect would include issues like political participation,
freedom of choice, ‘free, fair and credible’ election (Omoruyi, 2004:31), etc. Development as recently
conceptualized embraces the total development of man and his environment in all ramifications in an
area, under a political organization or structure like a LG, on a participatory and sustainable basis. This is
better done through governmental autonomy, which is, in turn, sustained by the council’s adequate
performance of the above responsibilities.
The questions that arise include, whether all these attributes of development can be the
people’s lot, especially in LG areas. How can they all be provided in Nigeria? Etc. The answer to any
number or variants of questions that may be asked is that all the attributes of development are the
rights of the people in varying degrees, depending on the provisions of the law or constitution of the
land. In the case of Nigeria, all the above attributes are the lots of Nigerians as provided for in Chapter II
of the Constitution titled: FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES FOR STATE POLICY
(Nigeria, 1999a).
Some of the issues raised in the above chapter of the Constitution as the lots of
Nigerians are: democracy and social justice, security and welfare, peace and progress, national
integration, adequate facilities and feeling of individual belonging and involvement. Others include
abolition of corruption and abuse of power, promotion of national prosperity, maximization of welfare,
freedom and happiness of every citizen, promotion of a planned and balanced economy, equality and
justice, adequate facilities for social, religious and cultural life, health, safety and welfare, eradication of
illiteracy, protection of the environment and enhancement of human dignity.
From the above attributes, it can be observed that the conceptualization of development has
truly changed in our era. No level of government, including the LG, that wants to be taken seriously,
respected by the people, stay on top and on tap, that is, deliver the people’s needs and continue to
enjoy autonomy without unnecessary interference from within and outside, cannot but be awake all the
time. This means that LGs must continue to serve the people in the spirit of the new meaning of
development.
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